Minority Contributions to War By Joseph Natale(April 17, 1944) Since our nation declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, it is clear that many Americans forward to volunteer for their country. Yet they were not all given the same opportunity to do so. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war and asked for his countrymen to volunteer, millions of African-Americans and other minorities stood up courageously, not realizing what exactly they were volunteering for. “My father had always taught me to stand up and face the fight,” says James C. Gideon, an African-American serviceman for the United States Army. “When that fight presented itself, I stood up,” Gideon continued, “not knowing however, that I would end up loading trucks as a cargo man for three months”. Minorities were forced to wait until April 1943 to see any significant combat time at battle (Bowes 564). Gideon urges people to fight for equality in the army, and believes that Americans should fight side-by-side, white or black. One person with similar beliefs is George Johnson, an avid member of the 99th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps, a small all-black unit of pilots trained from their segregated base in Tuskegee, Alabama (Krause 1). Their finest were recently called upon and deployed to fly over the European theater. They call themselves the “Tuskegee Airmen”. “Our men are out there too, dying every day just like everybody else,” says Johnson of the airmen the Army is gradually calling upon do run bombing-missions above Europe. “More of our men should be allowed to fight. We can do many good things for this army and we’re beginning to show that,” believes Johnson. The Tuskegee Airmen, pictured below, recently became the first Americans to sink a German Destroyer, which was done in a recent bombing over Europe. Two Tuskegee Airmen http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0215_tuskegee.html “It’s real funny how we are fighting against the biggest racists in the world within segregated military units,” pleads the twenty-nine year old, “The irony does not go unnoticed”. Lt. Stephen Martin also is a firm believer in what American minorities can do for us. “The truth of the matter is we need more fighters,” Martin implies. “These people have done good given the opportunity and I believe they should be doing more. They are every bit American as we are,” pleads the Pennsylvania native. It is on record that in the past months inductions to the military that minorities are an important source of manpower for the United States. Numbers show that a total of 1,056,841 Negroes were inducted into the armed forces through Selective Services (United States 180). Also through these serviced registrants were 13,311 Chinese, 20,080 Japanese, 1,320 Hawaiians, 19,567 American Indians, 11,506 Filipinos, and 51,438 Puerto Ricans (United States 189). The chart below shows the amount of minorities in numbers.
Accumulative to June 30, 1944
July-Dec. 1944
Jan.-June 1945
July-Dec. 1945
Accumulative to Dec. 31, 1945
All Races
Number
7,041,087
393,392
518,127
272,747
8,225,353
Percent
100
100
100
100
100
White
Number
6,139,589
348,060
457,460
236,675
7,181,784
Percent
87.2
88.5
88.3
86.7
87.3
Negro
Number
797,444
30,882
46,123
27,447
901,896
Percent
11.3
7.8
8.9
10.1
11.0
Japanese
Number
11,260
3,483
2,933
2,404
20,080
Percent
0.2
0.9
0.6
0.9
0.1
Puerto Rican
Number
32,344
8,109
8,005
2,980
51,438
Percent
0.5
2.1
1.5
1.1
0.6
Others
Number
60,450
2,858
3,606
3,241
70,155
Percent
0.8
0.7
0.7
1.2
0.9
http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/minst.htm It is clear that the minorities in the United States have contributed as much as they could to our military since April 1943. What is mostly clear to many, so it seems, is that we need more of these people fighting in non-segregated units. Their contributions so far have been more than what anyone could have expected and we can only hope for similar results in the future. Works Cited Bowes, John S.. "Dramatic Contributions." The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Krause, Lisa. "Black Soldiers in WW II: Fighting Enemies at Home and Abroad." National Geographic. Feb 15 2001. 21 Oct 2008 <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0215_tuskegee.html>. United States. Selective Service and Victory: The 4th Report of the Director of Selective Service. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1948.
By Joseph Natale (April 17, 1944)
Since our nation declared war on Germany, Italy, and Japan following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, it is clear that many Americans forward to volunteer for their country. Yet they were not all given the same opportunity to do so.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war and asked for his countrymen to volunteer, millions of African-Americans and other minorities stood up courageously, not realizing what exactly they were volunteering for.
“My father had always taught me to stand up and face the fight,” says James C. Gideon, an African-American serviceman for the United States Army. “When that fight presented itself, I stood up,” Gideon continued, “not knowing however, that I would end up loading trucks as a cargo man for three months”.
Minorities were forced to wait until April 1943 to see any significant combat time at battle (Bowes 564). Gideon urges people to fight for equality in the army, and believes that Americans should fight side-by-side, white or black.
One person with similar beliefs is George Johnson, an avid member of the 99th Pursuit Squadron of the U.S. Army Air Corps, a small all-black unit of pilots trained from their segregated base in Tuskegee, Alabama (Krause 1). Their finest were recently called upon and deployed to fly over the European theater. They call themselves the “Tuskegee Airmen”.
“Our men are out there too, dying every day just like everybody else,” says Johnson of the airmen the Army is gradually calling upon do run bombing-missions above Europe. “More of our men should be allowed to fight. We can do many good things for this army and we’re beginning to show that,” believes Johnson.
The Tuskegee Airmen, pictured below, recently became the first Americans to sink a German Destroyer, which was done in a recent bombing over Europe.
Two Tuskegee Airmen
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0215_tuskegee.html
“It’s real funny how we are fighting against the biggest racists in the world within segregated military units,” pleads the twenty-nine year old, “The irony does not go unnoticed”.
Lt. Stephen Martin also is a firm believer in what American minorities can do for us. “The truth of the matter is we need more fighters,” Martin implies. “These people have done good given the opportunity and I believe they should be doing more. They are every bit American as we are,” pleads the Pennsylvania native.
It is on record that in the past months inductions to the military that minorities are an important source of manpower for the United States. Numbers show that a total of 1,056,841 Negroes were inducted into the armed forces through Selective Services (United States 180). Also through these serviced registrants were 13,311 Chinese, 20,080 Japanese, 1,320 Hawaiians, 19,567 American Indians, 11,506 Filipinos, and 51,438 Puerto Ricans (United States 189). The chart below shows the amount of minorities in numbers.
http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/minst.htm
It is clear that the minorities in the United States have contributed as much as they could to our military since April 1943. What is mostly clear to many, so it seems, is that we need more of these people fighting in non-segregated units. Their contributions so far have been more than what anyone could have expected and we can only hope for similar results in the future.
Works Cited
Bowes, John S.. "Dramatic Contributions." The
Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005.
Krause, Lisa. "Black Soldiers in WW II: Fighting
Enemies at Home and Abroad." National Geographic. Feb 15 2001. 21 Oct 2008 <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0215_tuskegee.html>.
United States. Selective Service and Victory: The
4th Report of the Director of Selective Service. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1948.